New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday was informed by the Uttar Pradesh government that the state National Informatics Centre (NIC) has prepared an online portal pursuant to directions of the top court for grant benefits of remission to convicts.
A bench comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that data is being uploaded on an e-module to facilitate decision on premature release of convicts lodged in different jails of the state.
The bench posted the matter for hearing after a period of four weeks.
In an earlier direction, the top court had said that this e-module will have convict details such as whether the remission application is pending with the District Magistrate or opinion is awaited from the Court, or application is pending before the Jail Headquarters or the state government, and the period for which the application is pending.
The directions were passed when a miscellaneous application was filed by 50 convicts complaining that their applications for premature release had not been considered by the Uttar Pradesh government despite the previous orders of the court.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought a personal affidavit from the Director General of Prisons detailing information on convicts eligible for premature release in each district of the state, details of pending remission cases, and also the time period for taking up of these cases.
The apex court, in a judgment in September last year, had issued several directions having an impact on remission of convicts undergoing life imprisonment in Uttar Pradesh.
It had also said that there was no requirement for the convict to submit an application for premature release, and jail authorities must consider their cases automatically.
The top court had said that district legal services authorities in Uttar Pradesh shall take necessary steps in coordination with the jail authorities to ensure that all eligible cases of prisoners would be entitled to premature release in terms of the applicable policies.
According to Uttar Pradesh government’ s 2018 policy, a convict serving a life term would be considered for premature release if the person has undergone a total of 20 years of the sentence — 16 years of the actual sentence and four years of remission.
–IANS
